Originally published by the Guardian, Saturday 3 October 2009

Big sky, straight road, landscape flat as the vocals on X Factor – we’re in Lincolnshire and it feels like a road movie. The good news is no one gets shot, the bad news that we go horribly wrong at Sleaford. Finally we reach The Hayloft, one of two self-catering units in an 18th-century stable block in the village of Martin.

Owner Sherry Forbes, a marine biologist originally from the American midwest, completed this eco-conversion last year. The minimum stay is three nights and a glance inside the bathroom tells me it could take that long to get to grips with the sauna and shower unit, with its multiple jet settings and built-in radio. Then there is a waterproof telly beside a copper bath, countless sachets and bars of eco‑friendly goodies, and fibre optic lights in the ceiling.

Sherry is evidently proud of her achievements on the sustainability front – she has a gold award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. Solar panels and a wood pellet boiler provide hot water and heating, insulating materials include cotton and hemp, something called Pavatex made from sawmill by-products, and a floor-screeding concoction involving limecrete and recycled glass. Paints and woodstains are from a German company which uses citrus essential oils as solvent – so Sherry did the decorating in an orange-scented haze.

Ensconced, it’s as though we have arrived at a friend’s weekend mountain cabin in upstate New York. Our “loft” has sloping ceilings, solid pine floor (sustainable source, natch), and is open plan from the hallway into a kitchen-dining room and sitting area, which also has the unusual addition of a box bed (like the traditional Welsh kind) built in at the far end, behind the sofa.

A wooden cabinet is loaded with china, shelves with pots and pans, while pristine tea towels hang beneath. A range-style cooker, pots of herbs on windowsills and a woodburner complete the cottagey look. A radio and record player (Cat Stevens LP, anyone?) live in a carved wooden casing.

The fridge is hidden in a freestanding cherrywood cabinet, an admirable piece of furniture even without the contents (Lincolnshire chipolatas, juice, cider, eggs, cheese).

Sherry has left us veg from the garden, and sumptuous edibles in a wooden trug beside a jug of sunflowers on the table – her own-label apple wine, jams and chutney, homemade bread and eggs – and vegan champagne truffles by a company called Booga Booga.

“Booga me, they taste real,” says my friend Julie. She volunteers for the box bed (I’m game but too tall) so I dump my stuff in the bedroom at the back, which has its own loo, not much of a view, but piles of thick towels, pillows and magazines.

After supper at the Penny Farthing Inn in Timberland (01526 378359, pennyfarthingtimberland.co.uk) of great twice-baked cheese soufflé, grilled chicken with leek mash, and bland risotto, I take a lavender-fragrant soak beneath the twinkly fibre optic stars which gradually change colour. Outside, silence reigns.

Anything to moan about? Mirrors all a bit low, and undeserving high-backed dining chairs hog the limelight in the main room, when it should be the sofa and fireplace, but I shan’t be losing any sleep (on the organic wool mattress) over it.

Timberland Road
Martin
nr Lincoln
01526 378717
manorhousestables.co.uk

Three-night break in the Hayloft (sleeps 2+2) from £300, or £500 per week. The Bothy (sleeps 2+1) from £240 for three nights, £400 per week. This month, Sherry is launching one-day courses in handmade paper-making (25 Oct) and floral art (28 Oct) for £50pp. Further information: enjoyengland.com.